New Zealand Gold Fossicking Forums

Hi'we will be embarking on our 4th annual gold-hunting trip to S.I. in a week or so. Recovering flood gold has been worth more than $17'000 thus far. Equipment is all DIY and mostly made from junked materials: sluicebox with expanded metal and carpet,optional riffles or gauze, classifier that fits at right-angles to sluice,and a hand suction device with varying nozzles and collectors:

Hi Nuggetman
Have you got those pitures of your DIY equipment sorted yet.
cheers Fivestar Gold

I like it - a DIY man - it amazes me those who get the most modern machinery etc - I know that Keenes etc are all good but to see a DIY person in this day and age is just great.
I still use gear that was made before any such things as Keenes etc existed in NZ - in fact my underwater dredger is probably the second one made in NZ as it was my uncles first one and made about fifty years ago...sometimes I think it looks as though we are bananas using such old gear - but it works.

Love to see some photos of your gear.

anyone got a cradle? i made one based on a picture of a chinese miners one, back when i was about 16. was pretty well built. its up in christchurch at my parents place.

thinking about getting in back and modifying it with a bilge pump and some spray jets and a bit of an upgrade in the riffle system. i reckon some springs in the rocker setup may be an improvement too..

the chinese seemed to do pretty well with cradles. i guess they worked ok for them as they tended to stay put in a place unlike the europeans that often moved about a bit more.

simon.

Hi guys,
Here is a pic of a cradle I made out of a couple of wooden nail box's & some other gear I have thrown together.





My first ever sluice box



My 2nd sluice box





Fitted with a wooden classifier header box I made for it to take my 2" suction nozzle set up



My first crevice sucker & two crevice scrapers & snuffer bottle



Under water view finder & classifying sieve buckets





Highbanker/banjo





Back packable 3" dredge





All fits into pack





That will do for now.

Happy hunting

JW :)

Exatly what i was thinking overdog,and still wondering lol.

Mem/Overdog, If you are refering to the 3" back packable dredge set up. I would have thought it quite obvious. The Back pack is carried on your shoulders....you know.....like a B A C K P A C K. The 3" suction nozzle slides down the inside of the side straps on the pack. The 3" suction hose slides down the side straps on the other side of the pack. The pump water pick up hose slides down into the suction nozzle & I carry the bucket in one of my hands & I may or may not carry a long handled shovel in my other hand which can come in handy for using as a walking stick or keeping balance when crossing streams & can also be used for shoveling gravel or digging to bed rock.
The pack animal is me. I am no soft cock pussy when it comes to carrying a bit of weight. Tramping up & down mountain sides, up and down steep sided Coromandel bush clad hills, gullies & water falls puts a bit of spine into your back bone, So wonder no more

JW

. Guess you will find out when you come down under to clean out the Coromandel of all its gold that you reckon you are going to do. Remember that post you made??...

Yes i do john,i think anyone would have guessed that was tongue in cheek remarks,as you know i call myself the armchair fossicker,that should tell you all.
Mem.

Hi Mem, Then you have a very strange way of trying to make friends....if you have learnt so much from my posts, & others , thats great as that is what forums are about to me. I to have learnt a lot from the forums over the years but I have also learnt a lot from just doing it out in the field & finding out the hard way, what works, what doesnt. Making my own gear, adjusting it here & there to improve it etc. I like to give back to like minded people, tips & tricks & things I have found out the hard way. I have met some great people & made many friends in my pursuit for gold, that is the true gold. Have many great adventures, see some beautiful country, but yes I took a bit of offence when you threw it back in my face with a few "cheeky armchair critic" comments. To me thats a strange way to try & make a friend......
I am also deffinatly the wrong person to ask to take anyone fossicking in the coromandel & any where else for that matter. Mainly in the coromandel because fossicking for gold is not an acceptable practice in the eyes of the law here. That in its self should tell you volumes as to why I dont invite people with me or give locations away. The consequences are too great. I have just this year been dobbed in to Enviromant Waikato by a tree hugging, frog arse licking greenie & the trip I went down with that drama has made me even more secretive & on edge as I am now a marked man in the Coro.
I am sure you have been following Lammerlaws posts on land owners permission & the many reasons why he has now locked his gates. The trouble is, you just cant Trust most people & it isnt worth the risk. The risks are too high & it is better off not even going there. It only takes one person & Lammerlaw has been bitten too often. I know exactly where he is coming from.
It takes huge trust for a person to share locations. I am sure you can appreciate why after reading Lammerlaws posts. He & I are on the same wave length there & I am sure you will find the more seasoned prospectors are the same.
I never asked any one where to go or where there favourite spots are. You just dont do that. Sure....for a new chum it is the easiest & lazyest way to try & hook on to a spot. It is also the new chum who is all caught up in the excitement etc that will blabber the most. You need to learn through doing the hard yards out in the field of hard knocks. After you have been at it for a while you will understand what I, Lammerlaw & others are on about. Reading & research leads you to where to go. If & when a more seasoned prospector gains confidence & trust in you "they" may open up & take you or tell you where to go. But you never ask. If you are showen or told a spot you keep it to yourself & tell no one..... Its a golden rule....well it is to me any way.

NEVER EVER name or show spots or locations on a public forum for the whole world to see. No one has the right to do that unles they are the claim holder, but then why would they want to do that???.....Public recreational sites are the exception.
I mean no harm or offence to any one out there, but just use your common sense & think things through. Respect the rights of land owners & there reasons why they may refuse access....they will be for good reasons...to them any way & that is all that matters.
Always make sure you arent on claimed ground. That is getting more difficult every the day.

Happy hunting

JW :)

I agree starflash...thats some sharp looking DIY ya had there JW.

Me thinks I will be rummaging my sheds over next few days to see what "parts" I can find to start some own tools up. I havn't even got an underwater viewer yet doh!

MSB